FAMOUS SAUCES

.                                  

 

                                            CAFÉ DE PARIS SAUCE

A delicious French sauce:

180 g (4 oz) butter, cubed

1 shallot, peeled and minced

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp curry powder

A pinch of Cayenne pepper

1 tsp mustard powder

Salt to taste

2 tbsp tarragon, finely chopped

1 tbsp capers rinsed and soaked in water to remove salt

2 tbsp tarragon, finely chopped

2 tbsp chives, finely chopped

2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1 cup whipping cream

2 tsp lemon juice

 

Place butter, shallot, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, curry powder, and salt in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 6 minutes, until the shallots soften and butter becomes golden in colour.

 

Add the capers, chopped herbs and sprinkle with a little black pepper and cook for 1 minute more. Add the cream and lemon juice and heat until warmed through, for 2 minutes.  Do not overmix!  The sauce should not be uniform or emulsified.  You should see some separation between the butter and the cream component. 

 

Serve with grilled steak, roast beef, or grilled vegetables.

 

                

                                             MUSHROOM SAUCE

This sauce can be served on buttered toast or over pasta or rice.

 

500 g (1 lb) trimmed Portobello mushrooms

6 dried Porcini, soaked and chopped, soaking water reserved

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved

A few peppercorns

4 tbsp butter

4 tbsp butter

1 bay leaf

500 ml (2 cups) water or more

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tbsp grated cheese, San Mihalis or Parmesan

120 ml ( ½ cup) cream

 

Boil onion and garlic with 2 cups of water until tender.  Then strain and mash, reserve both puree and stock.

 

Quarter the mushrooms and cook in the onion stock, with a little salt and the peppercorns, until tender.  Strain and reserve stock and mushrooms, discard the peppercorns.

 

Heat the butter with the bay leaf stir in the flour and cook for 3 minutes,  Whisk in the warm mushroom stock and the Porcini water and simmer gently until the sauce bubbles and thickens.  Add the Porcini and discard the bay leaf.

 

Remove from the heat, add the onion/garlic puree and the grated cheese and mix well.   Taste for seasoning and adjust, if necessary.  Finally, add the mushrooms and simmer for a few minutes more, stirring from time to time. Stir in the cream and serve.

                                                  STUFFED CRAB SAUCE 

An old friend from Egypt, Mary Xenakis, gave me this recipe.

4 boiled crabs

1 clove garlic, peeled

Salt and pepper to taste

The eggs of 4 boiled crabs

2 hard-boiled egg yolks

1 1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 scant tsp of Dijon mustard

Olive oil

Tender lettuce leaves for decoration

Blend the garlic, a little salt, the crab eggs, and the hard-boiled eggs into a smooth paste.  Then mix the mayonnaise with the mustard, taste for seasoning, and adjust with salt, pepper, and lemon juice according to taste. 

Mix the sauce with the crab meat and arrange attractively in the prepared crab shells, sprinkle with olive oil and garnish with the crisp lettuce leaves.

PLEASE DO BE VACCINATED AGAINST COVID 19 SO THAT YOUR BELOVED FAMILIES, FRIENDS, THE WORLD AND YOU SHALL REMAIN HEALTHY AND SAFE, DESPITE THE OMICRON VIRANT,